This comprehensive book explains the importance of imaging techniques in exploring and understanding the role of brain abnormalities in schizophrenia. The findings obtained using individual imaging modalities and their biological interpretation are reviewed in detail, and updates are provided on methodology, testable hypotheses, limitations, and new directions for research. The coverage also includes important recent applications of neuroimaging to schizophrenia, for example in relation to non-pharmacological interventions, brain development, genetics, and prediction of treatment response and outcome. Written by world renowned experts in the field, the book will be invaluable to all who wish to learn about the newest and most important developments in neuroimaging research in schizophrenia, how these developments relate to the last 30 years of research, and how they can be leveraged to bring us closer to a cure for this devastating disorder. Neuroimaging in Schizophrenia will assist clinicians in navigating what is an extremely complex field and will be a source of insight and stimulation for researchers.

The application of brain imaging to the study of psychiatric disorders has revolutionised research into the biological basis of schizophrenia. This book provides an overview of the major techniques used in psychiatric neuroimaging, together with a summary of findings from their applications to schizophrenia research. It introduces the major structural and functional imaging modalities used in psychiatry, how these techniques are being used to study schizophrenia and the impact of neuroimaging on clinical practice. Brain Imaging in Schizophrenia is suitable for a large audience from practising psychiatrists and clinical psychologists to general practitioners, junior doctors and students of medicine, psychology and neuroscience.

Over the last two decades, molecular genetics and brain imaging have guided efforts to find the causes of schizophrenia. It is becoming increasingly clear that many genes are involved in schizophrenia and that they interact with other factors in very complex ways, which have not yet been elucidated. Neuroimaging techniques have allowed scientists and physicians to examine brain structure, function, and chemistry in living patients with schizophrenia but results so far have been disappointing. No two patients seem to share exactly the same combination of clinical symptoms or physical findings. Yet all have the syndrome recognized as schizophrenia. The author of this accessible, well-written book argues that it is time to set aside the search for a single cause of schizophrenia and focus on the disease's final common pathway. He highlights clues from a wide range of research, including neurotransmitter, psychophysiological, and brain imaging studies. He then describes possibilities for the final common pathway at an understandable level in the context of what is already known about schizophrenia. While there are no preferred models of schizophrenia, a pattern is emerging which implicates those structures in the brain known to be important in integrating perception, cognition, and affect. A better understanding of these processes will be critical for developing more effective treatments. This book will help advance that effort. It will be of great value to psychiatrists, psychologists, neurologists, neuroimagers, and basic scientists working in the field of schizophrenia research, and to their students and trainees. It will also be of interest to clinicians and scientists concerned with other neuropsychiatric disorders, and to the families of those diagnosed with schizophrenia.

What is schizophrenia? This is one of the most controversial questions in psychiatry and mental health research; however, in the last twenty years, there have been significant advances in our understanding of the topic. This book provides a balanced, comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the neuropathology of schizophrenia and its interpretation, covering the latest evidence derived from all fields of research, from brain scans to microscopy. The authors include many of the foremost international authorities in this rapidly developing field.

This book presents the state of the art in the use of neuroimaging technologies in the study of schizophrenia and other primary psychotic disorders. The contributions of neuroimaging in the characterization of these disorders are reviewed across diagnoses, by focusing on psychopathological domains and at-risk populations in order to understand the implications for treatment. The principal neuroimaging findings are described in detail, identifying those that are common to and specific for each disorder and highlighting important pitfalls. Attention is drawn to potential translational aspects of research in the field, with discussion of emerging innovative perspectives. Neuroimaging research has shown that abnormalities of brain structure and function associated with psychiatric disorders do not reflect the boundaries of current diagnostic categories. However, neuroimaging findings are being reconsidered in the light of recent research proposals aimed at re-conceptualizing classification systems in Psychiatry. Written by leading experts, this book will appeal to all with an interest in the field, including researchers, clinicians, and trainees.

Describes neuropsychological approaches to the investigation, description, measurement and management of a wide range of mental illnesses.

This volume provides an introduction to the essential techniques required for studying the molecular biology of brain disease. The approaches and strategies for investigations of gene structure and regulation are described with reference to the molecular genetics of prion and Alzheimer's disease. The effects of aberrant gene regulation can also be examined at the protein level by immunocytochemistry and autoradiography. Improved understanding of basic biology has resulted in new approaches to animal models using transgenic techniques and new therapeutic approaches. The volume is structured to illustrate all these approaches and demonstrate the practice and promise of molecular neuropathology.